Never An Obligation
by jemina1
Summary: Trowa and Quatre have been together since the end of the war, but Quatre's experiences with the Zero system didn't leave him completely sane. 3x4
1. Never An Obligation

Disclaimer: I don't own any of this stuff…..tear

Warnings: 3x4, don't like don't read

Never An Obligation

Quatre winced as the disinfectant touched his wound. "Sorry." Trowa  
mumbled, trying to be as careful as possible. Quatre gave a small smile in  
return, hoping to erase the worried look from his lover's face.

Trowa gave him a reassuring smile, but kept the worry lines across his  
brow. Done cleaning the one bloody gouge, he began to take gauze to cover  
the wound. Quatre sighed as the gauze was being applied to his wounds. He  
hated when this happened, he really did.

Unlike the others, his experience with the zero system during the war had a  
lasting effect. Nobody was sure why; it could be his empathy, the emotional  
state he was in when he used the system, or some other undiscovered factor.  
But ever since then he had been having little episodes of, well, insanity.  
While none of the episodes lasted very long he often suffered through  
delusions, hallucinations, and severe mood swings. More often than not he  
ended up hurting himself.

A fierce pain caused Quatre's attention to turn back to the task Trowa was  
doing. He had managed to space out while half of his current wounds were  
being cleaned. In this latest episode, Quatre had tried to claw out his own  
eyes. He now had deep scratch marks around his eyes. He looked up at Trowa.

It made him sad that Trowa had to do this. Throughout their entire time  
together Trowa had never once faltered in caring for Quatre. No matter what  
he did his lover was there, ready to support him. A sob escaped from him as  
he gasped, "You shouldn't have to deal with this."

For a moment Trowa paused in his ministrations, looked down at Quatre and  
said, "You know I don't mind."

"It's not fair to you. I mean, I know that I'm perfectly fine most of the  
time. We're happy together then, everything is fine. But…but then when I get  
like that…and I do stuff like that, you shouldn't have to take care of me. I  
know it seems like no problem now, but what about later? Trowa, I don't want  
to become an obligation!" Silent tears rolled down Quatre's face. He sat  
there afraid of what Trowa could say next; afraid of the pain he knew his  
eyes showed.

Trowa silently picked his supplies back up and continued to clean and  
bandage Quatre's injuries. He worked quietly and delinquently, while Quatre  
sat silently crying. After only a few minutes he finished dressing Quatre's  
wounds and put away the first aid kit.

Trowa then leaned forward and put his arms around Quatre. "I love you and I  
promise you you'll never be an obligation." Then he leaned down, planting a soft kiss on Quatre's forehead before hugging him tightly.

They sat like that until Quatre's tears had dried.

End

Author's Note: Hope ya'll enjoy. Any comment would be appreciated; I really want to improve my writing. I am thinking of possibly writing more drabbles to describe their relationship and the episodes Quatre has.


	2. The First Times Never The Charm

Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who reviewed, its nice to know someone is interested.

Disclaimer: Sadly I don't own any of this.

Warnings: supposedly creep images and slight 3x4

The First Times Never The Charm

Sometimes, late at night, Quatre wondered why. Why did he have to go through  
such pain after he had already suffered through an entire life of it? Why he  
was the only one of the pilots to have these problems? Why he had ended up  
destroying those colonies? What about him was so weak that he would kill so  
many people with so little thought? What would it take to for him to truly  
be sane?

After about five minutes of pitying himself, the kindhearted nature he was  
so often associated with, would assert itself. Others had it worse, much  
worse. He was the CEO of a huge company; he had a loving family, caring  
lover, and the knowledge of the peaceful times he had helped bring about.  
There were people in the world that had nothing; people who had lost  
everyone that mattered to them and had to struggle to get by each day.  
Quatre was really, really lucky compared to them.

Although that knowledge wasn't very comforting when his head felt ready to  
split into two. Yes, he was kind of crazy. Yes, he regularly had delusions  
and those sort of things. But why was there always a huge pounding headache  
afterward? That seemed a little like overkill. Quatre sighed again, trying  
to find comfort in the dark room. Not that the dark was very comforting, it  
never had been since his first little 'attack'.

Only one month after that horrible incident with Marimeia, it happened. He  
was currently acting as CEO for Winner Enterprises, trying to get back  
everything that had been lost during the war. He was also heavily involved  
with the deweaponization that was going on throughout the Earth and Colonies.  
Quatre was also dating Trowa. Even though he was working in the circus with  
Cathy, they still managed to get together every couple weeks. While his life  
was kind of hectic he had thought everything was going pretty well.

He had been alone in his office when it had happened. Everyone else had  
left; he only stayed so that he could get a head start on the next day's  
work. Quatre had quietly been sitting at his desk, when he thought he heard  
a noise. He had quickly dismissed it and began to concentrate once more on  
his paperwork when the noise sounded again. This time, positive he had he  
something, Quatre decided to investigate.

After pulling a gun out of one of his desk draws, he silently walked through  
the rest of his office space. He quickly made his way through the doorway  
and into the hallway. Nothing was there. Just to be sure, he wandered down  
the hall and into the security room. He checked every one of the TV screens  
and alarm systems. Nothing was amiss, he had just imagined it.

Shaking his head, he made his way back to his office. Halfway there, his  
vision suddenly dimmed. He wiped at his eyes thinking that the need for  
sleep had finally gotten to him. It didn't help. He was seeing everything  
through a fog, and the edges of his vision were quickly becoming darker.  
Seriously worried he hurried back into his office, prepared to call for  
someone to drive him home.

As soon as he entered his office, a flicker to his right drew his attention.  
Quatre quickly turned that way, bringing his gun up. Nothing was there. He  
felt movement to his left and he twirled to face his enemy. Nothing was  
there. Confused he closed his eyes, and tried to get a hold of himself.  
Again he felt a movement and turned to face it, snapping his eyes open.  
Frustration overtook him as he once again found nothing.

A foggy feeling was entering his mind, slowing his thoughts. Was it just him  
or where the shadows in the room growing larger, moving around. Curiously he  
wandered towards the shadows, still entrapped within the fog. Closer and  
closer he went, dropping his gun as he reached out toward the dancing  
shadows. A funny thought entered his head; the shadow appeared to be  
reaching out to him as well. His heart gave a sudden lurk of fear as he was  
an inch from the shadows. Years of trusting this ability caused Quatre to  
snap out of his fog induced actions. He quickly snatched his hand back and  
backed away from the shadows.

The fear in his heart was terrifying; nothing had ever affected him this  
badly. Quatre backed further and further from the menace until he ran into  
his desk. Briefly he considered trying to get to his gun, but he couldn't  
see a target to shoot. The sensible part of him tried desperately to  
rationalize what he could be facing; to figure out what was happening. A  
whimper escaped him as whatever it was seemed to start moving across the  
room. A slimy, sick feeling was starting to join the fear he was  
experiencing. He felt over his skin a kind of wrongness that was emanating  
from the shadow. In desperation, Quatre squeezed his eyes close and wished  
for what was happening to stop.

And surprisingly it did. The slimy feeling, the fear, had all suddenly  
disappeared. Quatre breathed a sigh of relief, before opening his eyes ready  
to see his normal office. But that was not what he saw when he opened his  
eyes. Cold sweat washed over him, as voices flew over the intercom system  
and the view he was seeing became recognizable to him. He was back in Wing  
Zero with the zero system. Before him he saw the mobile suit, Mercuruis with  
Heero in it. In his hands he felt the familiar control for the beam rifle  
and his hand closing to trigger it.

As his body fought to prevent the action, his mind was in despair thrown  
back into this moment in his own memories. The moment Trowa had taken the  
shot meant for Heero. Hard as he tried, he still could only watch as the  
trigger was pulled and, almost in slow motion Trowa was hit and sent flying.  
Shock ran through him as he watched the Vayeate float away before exploding.  
It wasn't real; he must have fallen asleep at his desk. He could not be  
reliving this. Yet the feel of the suit around him, the noise over his  
intercom system, and the tears streaming down his face were all convincing  
his body that it was real. That it was happening again. Quatre brought his  
hands up to pull at his hair, closed his eyes, and screamed a scream filled  
with pain and suffering.

When his eyes opened, he was sitting on his office floor screaming. He  
abruptly stopped and looked around. Nothing was out of place, everything was  
perfectly normal. He could see perfectly fine and his space heart gave no  
indication of danger. He must have dozed off and had a bad dream; it  
wouldn't be the first time. Suddenly tired, he moved around his desk and  
started to gather his papers, it was time for him to go home. Just as he  
closed his briefcase the phone next to him started to ring. At first he  
planned to ignore it, but then remembered that Trowa had started calling him  
at work the nights he decided to stay late. While Trowa was generally tired  
from the days work for the circus, his presence over the phone line was a  
great relief for Quatre.

"Hello." Quatre practically chirped into the phone. Talking with Trowa was a  
sure guarantee to get ride of his lingering fears from his dream. However  
after a moment or two with no answer, Quatre started to worry.  
"Hello...Trowa?"

"MURDERER!" the voice blasted from the phone, full with hatred. Dropping the  
phone, Quatre turned to flee out the office door when he felt a weight on  
his ankle. Looking down he saw a hand attached to his ankle, the only thing  
he saw was a hand. Screaming, he kicked it away and closed his eyes,  
feverishly wishing away the sight before him.

Things were worse when he opened his eyes again. The shadows had returned to  
haunt all the outskirts of the room. All the mad feelings he had previously  
associated with came back, except it now had a new addition. Things,  
creatures, were coming out of the shadows. Slowly they were crawling,  
pulling themselves to him. The smell and the fear in his heart threatened to  
send him into unconsciousness.

Whatever they were that was heading his way, they didn't seem to be a good  
thing. The feeling he felt directed to him from them confirmed that belief.  
It was all hatred, hatred directed solely at him. Frozen, he watched as the  
white creatures began to move closer and closer to him. A smell rose from  
them. It was a horrible putrid stink; it reminded Quatre of the smell of a  
dead body. His mind went blank as he finally registered what he was facing.

It wasn't real, it couldn't be real. He was seeing things. But the feeling  
he got from his space heart told him that these creatures were real. But  
they just couldn't be; bodies just didn't show up suddenly to attack a  
person. But these were definitely bodies. His mind tried to make some sense  
from the situation as he watched the white things come forward. None of them  
were whole bodies; each one seemed to be missing pieces. And they seemed to  
be covered in black areas. Black areas that looked a whole lot like burn  
marks.

Creepy keening noises sounded from the creatures throats. The pain and  
sorrow that filled Quatre's mind sent tears pouring from his eyes. He closed  
his eyes and put his hands over his ears. He started to mutter words in  
Arabic under his breathe. It wasn't real, it couldn't be real. There weren't  
bodies; he was perfectly safe and alone in his office. It wasn't real. He  
squeezed his eyes and clenched his fisted hands until blood sprouted from  
his fingernail's cuts. He would open his eyes and it would all go away.  
Taking a deep breath, Quatre opened his eyes.

One of the creatures was now clinging to his shoulders, its burnt and  
bloated body hanging off him. Others were crawling closer and closer,  
filling his senses with the smell of fire and death. One reached up and  
grabbed his hand, it was small. It was a child. All of Quatre's attention  
focused on the small body attached to his hand. Part of its hair was in  
pigtails, the other part of its face was burnt beyond recognition. Somehow  
he found the voice that he had lost and started a low keening noise.

The thing looked up at him and cried, "Mama. Where is my Mama?" The cries  
coming from Quatre were now loud and staggered as he struggled to breathe  
properly. It was so horrible, and he had killed them. He had been the one to  
do this to them. He could feel these corpses, his victims as the closed in  
on him, grabbing his legs and trying to pull him down. They were piled one  
on top of another, each trying to claw their way to him.

As he struggled to see through his teared up eyes and to control his  
screams, he noticed some of the creatures suddenly stiffen. He could  
blurrily make out a figure coming towards him. Blinking his tears out of his  
eyes he saw what was coming his way. It was one of the corpses, walking and  
whole. At some point in time it had been a woman, long black strands of hair  
still hung from parts of the scalp. Somewhere in the back of his mind a  
small voice pointed out how she looked less burnt than the others and the  
remains of a dress but his terror overrode that voice.

The figure, it didn't seem right to call it a woman, was slowly wading its  
way through its companions and towards him. While he could still feel the  
others' clammy hands as they tugged at him, it was the only thing he could  
focus on. Even though they were still there, his senses seemed to be cutting  
them off and focusing on it. In this small interlude, his screams and tears  
came back under his control. While his vision was still out of whack he  
managed to concentrate on the thing's face. Relatively calm, he watched it  
walk towards him until it stopped a foot in front of him.

For a moment it cocked it head to the side, considering him. Then a wicked  
grin seemed to spread over it face. Seeing that grin, Quatre's heart stopped  
a moment, too afraid of what could be coming next. In almost slow motion,  
the thing leaned forward putting its face right in his. Quatre had a second  
to register its rancid breath on his face before it spoke.  
"How about a kiss lover."

"Murderer!"

"Monster!"

"You killed us all!"

The screams Quatre cried were silent as everything came crashing down on  
him. Terror, guilt, hatred, loss, and pain. Gasping for breathe and  
struggling to relieve the pressure on his heart, Quatre stumbled backwards  
tripping over something. His head hit the corner of his desk with an echoing  
crack, giving him over to unconsciousness. The cries of injured souls were  
the last thing his ears heard.

Some time later, Quatre was awakened by a constant ringing noise. He reached  
out with his right hand, determined to shut off his alarm clock. After some  
grasping turned nothing up and the ringing continued, he opened his eyes.  
The first thing he noticed after he eyes adjusted was that this was not his  
bedroom and that he was lying on the floor. He took in the sight of his  
office, wondering why he was still there. He stood up, noticing the stuff  
that had fallen off his desk. As he was reaching down he felt something on  
his forehead and reached up to touch it. When he looked at his hand there  
was blood, his blood. He had hit his head on his desk.

Quatre's attempts to remember were interrupted as the phone began to ring.  
The sudden familiarity of the situation jogged Quatre's memory. For a second  
he struggled to breathe as he remembered the bodies and the voices that had  
been after him. He struggled to remain calm while the memory of the voice  
over the phone played fresh in his mind. He couldn't break down and run or  
cry. He had to answer the phone.

With a shaking hand Quatre reached over and picked up the phone. "Hello?" he  
asked with a wobbling voice.

"Hey, it's me." A calm voice came from the other end of the phone.

"Trowa, its just Trowa." He whispered into the air around him.

"Quatre, what's going on?" Spoke the worried voice from the other end of the  
line.

"Are you real? Please be real, I don't know what I would do if you weren't  
real." Quatre sobbed into the phone, tears pouring from his eyes. Everything  
suddenly became way too much for him.

"Of course I'm real. Quatre, what happened? Quatre answer me!" Trowa's voice  
became more urgent as nothing passed from the other end of the line. For a  
moment Trowa thought that Quatre was no longer there when he heard a small  
whisper.

"Am I real?" Then the phone connection went dead.

After the connection had been lost, Trowa had quickly called down to Rashid  
back at Quatre's mansion. As soon as he could, Rashid rushed to check on  
Quatre. He had gone and hopped on the next plane back to Quatre. Quatre  
sighed in the darkness, remembering their worried faces above him after he  
awoke from several days of sleep. For awhile after that incident he had put  
everything down as some bad dream. But after other incidents he had been  
forced to admit that something was wrong.

He had seen the best doctors in the world, both physical and mental, but  
nobody had been able to help him. This was something he would have to deal  
with by himself. Several people had brought up the fact that it could be  
caused due to his guilt from the Zero incident, but that first time had been  
the only time that it had come up. He wasn't crazy; he just wasn't well all  
the time.

Quatre snuggled back under the covers, it was best to just try to move on  
with his life. Still that didn't help his headache. Grouchily he reached out  
and grabbed two more pills off his bedside table, it didn't matter that he  
had already taken two he was in real pain. He settled back down and arranged  
himself again. He really needed to get some sleep, Trowa was coming in  
tomorrow and he had taken the day off specifically so he could spend time  
with him. He pulled the covers up to his eyes, trying to go to sleep, trying  
to ignore the feelingofbadnesshe felt coming from the darkness.

The End

Author's Note: So what did you think? I've got several more chapters planned out, so I figure as long as someone is interested I'll continue. All comments are welcomed.


	3. One Bad Day

Author's Notes: Thanks to anyone who has reviewed, I really appreciate it. There was quite a bit of Quatre torture last time so here is alittle break for the poor blonde. 

Warnings: two guys making out

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters; I'm just using them for my own twisted amusement.

One Bad Day

A fierce shrieking interrupted the morning's silence. Quatre groaned,  
rolling over to shut off his alarm clock. For a few moments he lay there,  
briefly wondering why the hell he would have his alarm set for such an early  
hour. Even on work days he was never up before nine unless he absolutely had  
to be. With no reason apparent in his mind, Quatre snuggled up to his pillow  
and started the process of going back to sleep. Randomly, Quatre noticed  
that his pillow had a particular smell about it. After a moment or two he  
identified the smell, Trowa. That was the pillow that Trowa had used on his  
last visit. Warm and fuzzy thoughts moved about his mind as he thought about  
his boyfriend. Wrapped in these thoughts, Quatre fell back asleep.

The bright morning light filtered through the windows as birds flirted by,  
chirping to their hearts delight. Quatre lay in peaceful sleep until one of  
those chipper birds made a mistake and crashed into the window. Quatre's  
eyes snapped open as he finally remembered the reason why he needed to be up  
so early. Trowa was coming today and he had wanted to be at the space port  
to greet him.

Quatre bolted from his bed; he had lost an hour so he had to rush. Somehow  
he managed to cross his room to the bathroom with his sheets still wrapped  
around his legs without tripping. After five minutes Quatre was out of the  
shower and rummaging in his closet. Fifteen minutes later Quatre sat himself  
in the back of his limo.

The limo pulled up to the space port after battling through thirty minutes  
worth of traffic and Quatre hurried in, making his way to the gate. He was  
relieved to find that the shuttle was going to be a few minutes late. After  
buying himself a coffee, Quatre settled against a wall in view of the gate.  
He didn't have much time to wait, people soon came drifting out. As the  
people slowly piled out of the shuttle, Quatre began to get agitated; he  
really wanted to see Trowa. He watched as one by one people were reunited  
with their loved ones. Then finally Quatre caught a glimpse of his loved  
one.

Quatre watched as Trowa came towards him. He had to resist the urge he had  
to run and launch himself into Trowa's arms. He put down the urge he had to  
run his fingers through his hair, moving it so that he could look right into  
those wonderful green eyes. Suddenly those same eyes he was dreaming about  
locked on with his, guiding Trowa to him. Finally Trowa stood right before  
him, greeting him with a nod and a quiet "Hey."

Quatre smiled, reaching out a hand to quickly squeeze one of Trowa's. Then  
he reached over and pulled the duffel bag out of Trowa's grasp. Together  
they walked out of the airport, Quatre lugging the heavy bag as Trowa  
watched on in amusement. Finally reaching the limo, they placed Trowa's bag  
in the trunk before climbing in. Quatre reaffirmed their destination with  
the driver before putting up the screen and turning to Trowa.

"You better give me a proper greeting now." Quatre murmured as he used  
Trowa's shirt to pull him towards him. Their lips met in a soft kiss that  
quickly became more heated. They hadn't seen each other in quite some time.  
Quatre slipped his hands up around Trowa's neck pulling him down with him as  
he lowered back onto the seat. To busy trying to make up for lost time  
neither of them noticed as Quatre's cell phone slipped from his pocket and  
fell on the limo floor.

Trowa broke away from Quatre for just a moment to smugly say, "I trust this  
is more along what you had in mind." Quatre couldn't help but smile as Trowa  
began to administer soft kisses to his face and down his jawline. Placing  
another kiss against Quatre's smiling lips; Trowa ran the tip on his tongue  
against them. Quatre obligingly parted his lips and deepened the kiss.

Just as Trowa's hands were slipping down under Quatre's shirt a shrill ring  
echoed throughout the limo. The two of them froze, eyes focusing on the cell  
phone lying on the limo floor. It rang a second time as Trowa began to  
straighten up. "No, no. Just ignore it." Quatre said trying to pull Trowa  
back toward him.

Trowa sighed as he reached down and grabbed the cell phone. After looking at  
it a moment he held it out towards Quatre. "You know they wouldn't call this  
number unless it was important."

"I know, I know." Quatre admitted as he accepted the phone. He shot Trowa an  
apologetic look before flipping open the phone. "Hello?"

"Oh, Mr. Winner, thank God your there!" Minerva, his secretary, started  
babbling. "There was an accident down in the labs. A bunch of people got  
hurt. I know you told me you didn't want to be bothered, what with it being  
your day off and all, but you also tell me it was important that you be  
notified when anything like this happened. The people, head of departments,  
have been calling me and yelling that they need you."

As Minerva's babbling began to border on desperation Quatre intervened,  
"Alright, alright. I'll be there in a few minutes. Bye." Already beginning  
to focus on the task at hand, Quatre relayed the new destination to the  
driver. Then he turned back to Trowa. "Why don't you go ahead and head to  
the house. I don't know how long I'll be, and I would hate to have you just  
sitting around my office bored."

"That works for me." Trowa replied.

"Good." Quatre smiled. "You know I'm really, really glad that you're here."  
He threaded his hand through Trowa's as he leaned over resting his head on  
his shoulder.

"I'm happy about being here too." Trowa smiled, looking down at Quatre. They  
spent the rest of the limo ride sitting like that. When they finally reached  
the office, Quatre reluctantly disentangled himself from Trowa. He gave him  
one last quick kiss and a soft "Sorry" before heading inside to do his job.

* * *

Quatre grumbled as he finally walked in his front door. The past five hours  
had been particularly trying, as well as exhausting. Glancing at the clock,  
and seeing that it was only two o'clock, Quatre headed to the one place  
where he was sure his lover would be. As he walked he couldn't help but  
wonder as to why he was still acting CEO of the company. Sure he had been  
raised to take over ever since his youth, but still he wasn't really the  
type to be evil and businessmany. Mentally shrugging 'whatever' Quatre stood  
at the library door and watched as Trowa laid reading. Loving just to watch  
Trowa, Quatre leaned against the doorframe basking in the sight before him. 

Eventually Trowa marked his place in his book and softly called out to  
Quatre. "What happened?"

"Apparently one of the pet projects of one of the department heads exploded  
during a test. The areas connecting to the labs are specially reinforced so  
that if something like this were to happen the entire building wouldn't be  
compromised. However while the rest of the building did fine it caused a  
huge mess in the labs. Test tubs broke and there are spilt chemicals all  
over the place, equipment broke, and some even exploded adding an even  
bigger mess to what had already happened. Everything is just extremely  
messed up and atleast thirty of my people are seriously hurt." Quatre moved  
across the room to stand before Trowa. "Five people had already died by the  
time I got to the scene."

"How are you doing?" Trowa questioned pulling Quatre down into his arms. He  
had noticed that the blonde was paler than usual. Quatre laid his head  
against Trowa's chest, closing his eyes and letting the soft heartbeat calm  
him down.

"One of the workers spilled this one special acid on himself when the  
accident happened. It was slowly burning away his skin. The medical staff  
didn't know how to fix it, so for a while anyone in the area could only  
listen to his screams." Quatre nestled his head deeper into Trowa's chest.  
He didn't like remembering those screams. Trowa brought his hand up and  
began rubbing his back, trying to help soothe the smaller man.

After alittle while Quatre turned his head to look up at Trowa. "We should  
spend the rest of the day just like this."

Trowa chuckled, "Oh, alright but I was picturing something involving a lot  
less clothes." He brought Quatre's hand up to his mouth and gently kissed  
his knuckles.

A sly smile spread across Quatre's face as he said, "Now that sounds like a  
very good plan." He moved, sitting up on Trowa's abdomen. Lifting Trowa's  
shirt slightly he spread his hands against the muscles there. Quatre was  
always amazed at the strength his lover had behind his quiet exterior. He  
leaned down and pressed his lips against Trowa's in a chaste kiss. Their  
eyes meet expressing the intensity of their desires. They kissed again; only  
this time it was passionate as they fought for control.

Once again their makeout session was interrupted by a noise, Quatre's  
stomach growling. He broke away from Trowa laughing sheepishly. Surprisingly  
Trowa's stomach gave an answering growl, sending them both into laughing  
fits.

Trowa regained his composure first, "I decided to wait for you before  
eating. We should go and eat, I'm sure we'll have no problem continuing this  
after lunch." Still laughing Quatre nodded his agreement, getting up and  
heading to the kitchen.

Down in the kitchens Trowa began making them sandwiches while Quatre set the  
table and fixed their drinks. Trowa had just sat down, placing one of the  
sandwiches on Quatre's plate when his cell phone went off again. Quatre gave  
a tired sigh as he reached into his pocket, pulling out that small machine.  
Seeing the caller's I.D Quatre took a deep breathe and accepted the call.  
"Hello."

He sat there listening seriously as the caller talked. When Trowa gave him a  
questioning glance, he mouthed the name 'Relena'. Quatre managed to get a  
few bites of his sandwich before having to bolt from the kitchen to the  
nearest TV. Trowa briefly heard as the TV reporters went on and on about  
some scandal taking place. He sat there quietly eating by himself until  
Quatre rushed back in, done with his phone conversation.

"One of the heads of the colonial deweaponization committee just got caught  
attending a meeting for a rebel faction. He had apparently agreed to supply  
them with weapons." Quatre sighed massaging his temples for a moment.  
"People are in an uproar about this. Everyone is screaming and pointing  
fingers at other people. There is a possibility that if not handled  
delicately then the peace will be threatened. I'm sorry but I have to go.  
I'm supposed to be meeting with Relena to discuss what we are going to say  
to people."

Trowa nodded his understanding. It was crucial that peace be maintained. Too  
much life had been lost already. Quatre stood there, observing Trowa for a  
moment before moving and embracing him. "I'm sorry. We've barely spent any  
time together."

"It's alright. I understand, it's your job, just like mine is to travel with  
the circus undercover to feel around the different territories for  
dissension." Trowa said squeezing the blonde.

"No, it's not okay! You're only here for this one day before heading to that  
new touring area. We were supposed to spend the day together. Neither of us  
knows when we'll have more free time, so it might be a while before I see  
you again. It's just…it's just not fair." Quatre exclaimed looking up at  
Trowa.

Trowa sighed, bringing his head down, pressing their foreheads together. "We  
both know life's not fair. This is the price we must pay to keep the peace  
we fought so hard for. I love you and I love what we could one day have. I'm  
willing to wait for the day when we aren't needed to protect the world." He  
gave Quatre a chaste kiss. "I'm willing to wait for you."

Their lips met in another quick kiss before Quatre had to rush off in the  
limo. He left alittle calmer and with the knowledge that when he got home  
Trowa would be right there waiting for him. He truly hoped his lover was  
right, that one day he wouldn't need to be the head of his father's empire,  
that one day they would all be free. Soon he arrived at the Preventers'  
local office. Walking in, he quickly noticed that both Duo and Heero were  
present as part of the Preventers' forces.

He only had a brief moment to greet Relena before they were all called into  
the conference room. Lady Une quickly quieted people, setting up slides and  
passing out the reports dealing with the current situation. Even before she  
officially started briefing the room on the situation, Quatre had glimpsed  
over the work getting all the details he needed. A few minutes after the  
lights had dimmed and Une started talking, Quatre felt someone sidle up to  
him. A quick glance told him it was Duo.

He nodded greeting to his fellow ex-pilot. After a few more moments of Duo  
struggling to behave himself, Quatre felt Duo lean in close and whisper  
seriously, "Are you as bored as I am?"

Quatre's barely audible giggle answered Duo's question. "I'm surprised you  
have behaved for so long."

"What can I say; I might just be finally growing up."

"That is a possibility." Quatre admitted, trying to sound serious.

"Yeah, yeah. That idea is pretty much a one in million chanced thing of  
happening." Duo's huge smile could be felt through his voice. "Hey, isn't  
Trowa visiting right now?"

"Yeah." Quatre sighed, flinching as Une's voice rose in volume.

"When is he leaving again? Maybe we can all get together."

"He leaves tomorrow morning." This time Quatre restrained himself from  
sighing. It was something he found himself doing often.

"Oh, man that sucks." Duo murmured, reaching over and patting Quatre on the  
back.

"Mr. Maxwell! Is it wrong for me to assume that you are paying attention to  
the matter at hand?" Une growled, slamming her hand on the conference table.

"Well, Lady you know what they say about people who assume things." Duo said  
grinning and shrugging his shoulders. He laughed off the warning glare she  
sent his way before quieting down. For a few minutes Quatre and Duo just  
stood quietly at each other before whispered, "Its times like these that I'm  
happy my honey is working with me." Turning sad eyes to Quatre before  
looking over at Heero.

Quatre stayed silent after that. Duo and Heero did get to work together, but  
with their missions they always had to worry about the other getting hurt.  
Sure he and Trowa weren't getting to see a lot of each other but atleast  
Trowa was safe. Or as safe as anyone could be with Catherine throwing knives  
at them. He sighed before focusing his attention on the issue at hand. The  
sooner they fixed things the sooner they got to go home.

Hours and a press conference later, Quatre watched as his limo pulled up.  
Starved and exhausted he slowly sunk himself into the seat, eyes already  
closed and prepped for sleep. As soon as he got in the limo, he jumped when  
he felt an arm touching him. Opening his eyes he saw Trowa sitting next to  
him with an amused smile on his face. Smiling, Quatre leaned over to touch  
his lips to Trowa's.

Quatre suddenly opened his eyes. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness he  
quickly racked his brain for details of how he had ended up there. This  
obviously wasn't the limo so how in the hell did he get here. Then the  
furniture in the room alerted him to where he was; his bedroom. Then he  
noticed a figure sitting on one of the chairs. Blank memory, bedside watch,  
and bed rest they all could mean only one thing. Oh Allah, he had had  
another episode. He sat up in his bed frantically searching his memory for  
what had happened. The episodes were always bad if he couldn't remember them  
right away.

Alerted by Quatre's movements, Trowa moved from the chair he had been  
sitting in. As he quietly sat down next to Quatre he asked, "Hey, how are  
you feeling?"

"I'm alright, I guess." Quatre mumbled. Nothing was forming from his memory.  
The last thing he could picture was being in the back of the limo with  
Trowa…oh shit. He had had another episode in front of Trowa. The knowledge  
that Trowa had seen him at his worst once again together with the day's  
previous events suddenly overwhelmed Quatre. Tears welled up in his eyes as  
the final straw broke.

Trowa placed a hand on Quatre's shoulder, "What's the matter?"

As Quatre raised his head he whispered, "I don't remember what happened."

"What is there to remember, you leaned over to kiss me but instead passed  
out and fell into my arms." Trowa explained. "Quatre you have been working  
yourself to exhaustion. What did you expect would happen?"

"Oh." Quatre murmured. He had only passed out, that's all. For a brief  
moment relief flooded through Quatre before he realized that he had wasted  
more of his precious time with Trowa. Guilt hit him as he thought of all the  
times he had caused Trowa grief because of his own issues. He was tired of  
being a problem for everyone else. "It's not fair to you…..I mean, just  
because I'm so messed up doesn't mean that you need to deal with the  
consequences."

"Quatre I told you that it doesn't matter to me. Crazy, sane, homicidal…none  
of that matters."

"But Trowa it's not just the crazy. I'm the CEO of a multi-billion dollar  
company. I'm one of the biggest public peace advocates. I have little time  
and little privacy. My life is crazy and hectic even without my charming  
little mental quirks. You shouldn't have to worry about these things, they  
are my problems." Quatre cried trying to make Trowa see sense.

Trowa sighed, "Quatre you need to rest. Tomorrow you'll see things  
completely differently.

"No Trowa, not until you listen to me about this. I'm not a good person to  
be in a relationship with right now." Quatre crossed his arms getting  
aggravated with him. "You need to serious- Hey!" Trowa sunk onto the bed,  
taking Quatre down with him. "What do you think you are doing?"

"I'm," Trowa started, making himself more comfortable. "Going to sleep." He  
lay pinning down most of Quatre's lower body and part of his upper. Ignoring  
the irritated blond Trowa snuggled his head into his chest before quietly  
whispering, "Goodnight."

Author's Notes: Please review, any criticism helps.


End file.
